Category Archives: Human Rights, Migrant Death

Talking about the project itself

The Eventful Events of Day 2

Environment, Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

Day 2 in the field started with sleepy faces and gas station breakfast tacos, the best fuel for a hard day of work in my opinion. We made our way to the South Texas Human Rights Center to meet Eddie and Deputy Don White before leaving to start our day. Remote Wildlands Search and Recovery received a distress call earlier in the morning from a migrant abandoned in the brush. Thankfully, the young woman from El Salvador was located and assisted to safety.

While the members of the Remote Wildlands Search and Recovery were working to get her processed, we went to work with Eddie to repair and replenish water stations located on the way to the ranch we intended to search later in the day. We made a few extra stops where Eddie explained to us the meaning behind some of the things we were seeing. One of those stops was at a ladder attached to the fencing of a ranch. Ranchers place these ladders so the migrants can climb over the fences without breaking them, which is what usually is happening. At the pictured ladder, a lone glove hung from the dangerous barbed wire.

When we received a text from Don saying they were done and headed our way, we left for the ranch gate to meet them there. To pass the time, we had a small snack and a jam sesh to our team-made Texas playlist , including great songs like I’ll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan, Low by Flo Rida, A Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler, I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys, 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton, and so many more. Music is an important mental health break and coping strategy for the Beyond Borders team. With the group back together, we went into the brush to really start our second day of searching. Thank the Texan gods that today was warmer because I think my lasting reputation here will be that I was the Louisiana girl that was always cold and is a “tourist” (Don’t ask — Just know I’m thankful my momma built me sassy and strong.).

Texas brush
Thorns in the terrain

Alex previously wrote that the terrain is unforgiving, and he was not wrong. The terrain was different today from yesterday, being more of an open field instead of working our way through mostly trees and thickets. With that, we got the gift of actually being able to see more than just the color of your closest team member’s shirt, and thus, our UIndy team was able to better perform our line search.

Members of the South Texas Mounted Search and Rescue
Members of South Texas Mounted Search and Rescue: Melissa & Oakley

We detected very little migrant activity, only finding elements that indicated to us that it had been long since someone had passed through the area. We are also working with South Texas Mounted Search and Recovery. Melissa, Oakley, and Matt were off on their own. Oakley, a cutie sweet baby search dog trained by Melissa, showed a distinct change of behavior, meaning she found a scent to track. Melissa and Matt also said they were getting whiffs of something that smelled like decomposing remains. This gives us a new target area to search tomorrow. We communicate through walkie talkies as we are so spread apart, so we were also alerted when Don received another distress call from a nearby ranch. Border Patrol kept Don in the loop about their search for the distressed individual as we finished our search today.

In my opinion, tensions ran higher on our way back. It can get very frustrating having to repeatedly check and correct yourself in terms of directionality in a line search, while trying to stay aligned with your team, while being flanked with people who aren’t necessarily following the same plan as us, and on top of all of that, you’re hot, sweaty, sore, tired, hungry, and have to pee (this part is mostly if you’re myself, Tanya, Olivia, Melissa, or Dr. Latham because we don’t have the easiest way to pee outside if you know what I mean.). In retrospect, this was the most challenging part of our day, which is a win honestly.

We returned to the cars and went to shower and clean up for the evening barbeque! We met up with Eddie, the Remote Wildlands Search and Rescue guys and Melissa for some chicken, sausage, bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers, baked beans, potato salad, guacamole, and some quality time with everyone. I previously wrote about how excited I was for the food, and I have NOT been disappointed. Getting to see everyone in a more relaxed environment let us see a new side to each face.

As tired as we all are, we returned to our rooms smiling after another hard day of work. When we’re at UIndy, I like to say that one of my primary jobs there is to provide comic relief as tensions running higher than skyscrapers tends to be the norm. I tried to carry that over to this trip as well. Bugging Don and Eddie has been one of the highlights of this trip and memories I will carry forever. It is still serious work, but we do not have to be grave while we do it. Today, though, I felt a lot more emotions than yesterday. You never fully grasp the true gravity of what people go through until you experience a part of it.

Today started with the distress call. The young woman was 25 years old, only 2 years older than me, and from the same country my dad migrated to the US from. Seeing her face and hearing her story hit me hard. She was out there alone while I complained of being cold while dressed in multiple layers. I stared at the single glove hanging from the barbed wire for minutes as my mine wandered who lost this? where are they now? are they safe? are they injured? are they alive? I said there was low migrant activity detected where we searched today, but someone’s water jug was there. Someone’s cereal bar wrapper was there. Two individuals called authorities in distress to be rescued. Two individuals realized it was life or death and were luckily able to call in distress to be rescued. This journey people endure requires so much in every single aspect, physical strength, mental strength, strategy, knowledge, trust, and none of it is guaranteed to get you all the way to safety.

I don’t say this to bring the tone of this post down, but to recognize what I have. I am able to make jokes and keep a situation light. My life is not on the line, but I am searching for evidence of someone whose life may very well hang in the balance. You feel guilty for being “excited” to find something because you’re driven by forensic anthropology, but you also don’t ever want to find something because that is someone’s life lost fighting to better it. It’s another reason why the cookout was so nice as well, because we got to hear and express how everyone felt about this work that we do. That, although we all come from different backgrounds, use different protocols, have different political beliefs, etc., we all have the same goal. Keep people alive. Keep people safe. Help those in need.

To end this blog on a lighter note, here is a picture of Don being my bestie.

Izzy

Ten Years

Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

It’s been 10 years since my first naïve trip to the Texas Borderlands. Ten years since I thought I was going to Brooks County for one trip to be a forensic archaeology consultant on a large scale exhumation effort. In those 10 years so much has changed yet so much has stayed the same. As our team prepares for its 10th year of travel to the Texas Borderlands I can’t help but reflect on the last decade of the Beyond Borders team.

Team members digging
The 2013 University of Indianapolis Beyond Borders Team

What has changed? Most importantly, unidentified human remains are beginning their journey to identification. Those buried without a name or left in the brush are being recovered and efforts taken to identify and repatriate them to their families. This brings some closure to the families of the missing that are seeking information regarding their loved ones. The efforts of of the many organizations involved in this large scale identification initiative are bringing awareness to the issues and the lack of resources available to locate and identify the dead. Over the last ten years we have worked with other groups to change the linguistics describing these individuals to more accurately reflect their reality. When we first started this work the dead were called “Undocumented Border Crossers” or “UBCs”. While that terminology is not factually wrong, it is misleading in that many of the dead are migrant refugees fleeing gang violence, sexual violence and political violence. The term “migrant” or “refugee” is more reflective of their circumstances and more humanizing. The hard work of many organizations are changing the laws in Texas surrounding unidentified migrants. From expedited death certificates to The Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act, progress is being made. On a more personal note, what has changed for me? I have formed lifelong relationships with the most dedicated, empathetic and big-hearted people I could imagine. When the world feels ugly and overwhelming, I just need to think of the incredible humans I’ve met on this journey to be reminded of the love and light that exists in times of darkness. However, it’s the perspective that is the most important yet most difficult to discuss and reflect upon. I entered this journey with a feeling of self-importance importance. I was an expert that was called to help “fix” a problem. But I was quickly humbled as I learned that there is no one person working on these issues that is any more or less important than any other. The feeling of self-importance was quickly replaced with feelings of humbleness and gratitude to be invited and included in a process that has allowed me to grow in unbelievable ways. I am not the same person or professional that I was 10 years ago and that is a benefit for my field, my students and the decedents that I serve in the Texas borderlands and beyond. But this is not about me. I can reflect on how it has changed me as I think it might benefit others, but while I’ve changed too many things have remained the same.

The deaths continue, with 2021 on record pace for migrant deaths in Brooks County and other border counties. The discrimination and racism continues, as well as the fear of how these non-citizen others will impact local communities as evidenced by a focus on the more rare cartel and illegal activity rather than the more common story of parents trying to save the lives of their children. The lack of empathy and lack of care continue as people shake their heads and ask why anyone would choose this journey, rather than understanding that staying is certain death and the journey is only probable death. The desperation of the families fleeing life threatening violence continues as gang activity and corruption dominate in some Latin American countries. The lack of resources for border counties overwhelmed and working under mass disaster situations continues as volunteers try to provide services the Federal government does not provide. The sensationalism continues as the media focuses on what makes a good story rather than what is actually occurring. These issues predate my time in Brooks county and while there has been some progress, the fact these deaths continue to occur at such high rates and that most people look the other way is unacceptable. When the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members, its pretty clear how we score.

~Dr. Latham

Bittersweet

Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

The word that comes to mind when thinking about my departure from Falfurrias is bittersweet. On the one hand, I am very sad that I am leaving behind all the new people I met during the week. I am going to miss sharing jokes and laughs with Eddie Canales, the director of the South Texas Human Rights Center. In my short time of knowing him I can tell that he is very passionate about not only advocating for migrant rights,  but also preventing migrant deaths. He accomplishes both by trying to change local policies in place and by constantly building/ replenishing water stations along highly traveled routes. I am going to miss daily conversations with the kind-hearted Sheriff Deputy Don White! He is a wealth of knowledge and really showed our team how to navigate through the thick, thorny brush during search and recoveries! He literally knows the lay of the Texas land and knows how to get out of “sticky” situations. For instance, on the last day of searching, his truck got stuck in the sand and was able to quickly come up with a plan to get out.

Don's truck stuck in the sand
Sheriff Deputy Don White’s truck stuck in sand

I am sad because I am going to miss the little routine that we created during our week there. I got used to waking up early to load up gallons of waters into the truck to refill stations we saw along the way to the ranches, walking 3-5 miles a day doing searches/recoveries, and our little debriefing meetings before going to bed. I am going to miss the daily cow sightings on the ranches, the team got excited EVERY time we saw one.

Cows
cows

I am sad because I now have a slight understanding of the realities and hardships migrants face while making their journey to the United States. I emphasize slight because, while we walk the same paths and routes as migrants, we have a sense of security knowing we will make it out the treacherous terrain well and alive. We are protected from head to toe with the proper gear like snake gaiters, bug repellent, hydration backpacks, etc. The vehicle that we have waiting for us after search and recoveries, is fully equipped with first aid kits, food, and water. After a few miles of walking, we get to call it a day and head back to our hotel to sleep and rest. The reality is that migrants walk hundreds of miles for several weeks and do not get the same amount of sleep or rest. They carry the bare minimum with them because they do not have the means or capability of having all of the proper gear. They do not have the same sense of security of making it out alive.

Burial at Sacred Heart Cemetery
Burial at Sacred Heart Cemetery

During our last day of search and recoveries we encountered a recent migrant camp-out. Here, we saw items we think of as essentials get left behind. There were several backpacks filled with clothing, unopened non-perishable food items, and medications. Maybe the items just became too heavy to carry around? Meaning they were left no choice but to consolidate what was more important to carry for the remainder of their trip. The truth is that we will never know and can only speculate the reasons why those certain items got left behind. Seeing this really put things into perspective, I could not imagine having to make  that tough decision.

Backpacks that were left behind
Backpacks that were left behind

On the other hand, I feel happy to be back in Indianapolis because I know our work does not have to end in Texas. Even though Indiana is not considered a border state, we have the capabilities to be an advocate and raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis to fellow peers, friends, and family. I feel happy that I was a part of such a strong, well working team so, thank you Alba, Sammi, and Sidney!  I also want to thank Dr. Krista Latham for being such an amazing teacher/leader, and for providing this opportunity to her students.

I hope to be back one day!

The team, the number one, the gold standard

Tanya